1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a drip pan comprising catalysts to assist in the cooking process, prevent flames from burning the food being cooked and diminish the deposition of corrosive fat residues on burner assemblies.
2. Related Information
In cooking devices, especially grills, a common problem is that fats and oils that are exuded from the material being cooked, drip onto the burner or hot surfaces where they produce smoke or flames. Where they drip onto cold surfaces they condense to make an eyesore, or worse, they harbor bacteria or fungi. The fats and oils also contain inorganic and organic acids which can cause corrosion on the surface of burner components.
Catalysts have been used for the combustion of the smoke which emanates from the cooking process. These catalysts combust the smoke as it leaves the cooking device. The catalyst is placed in the exhaust and prevents some portion of the organic smoke from polluting the air. These catalysts have no effect on the nature of the cooking process and are strictly afterburners. Other catalysts have been placed in the exhaust of cooking appliances and used to remove fumes produced during high temperature burn-off typical in self-cleaning oven applications.
In gas grills, pumice stones and ceramic blocks have been used between the burners and the food to distribute the heat and to catch the fat drippings. The nature of these products is that they store heat and allow the burner gases to pass through. Due to this nature some of the drippings fall through to the burner assembly while some of the drippings vaporize on the surface of the ceramic producing smoke and flames.
There exists a large number of catalyst formulations for removing food droppings from oven surfaces. However, none were intended to be used between the heat source and food or for the consumption of large amounts of grease or to minimize flame up.
Examples of such formulations are covered under the following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,597; 4,359,039; 4,471,027; and 4,515,862. Others have used catalytic technology to burn the emissions (smoke, VOC's etc.) from broilers and the like (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,693,298; and 5,556,819). Two patents cite the use of perforated metal or wire cloth based flame arrestors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,819 utilizes a "Filter Screen" to disperse the vaporized fat. This application differs from the present invention in that the main purpose of the screen is to disperse the fat and grease whereas in the present invention the screen serves to actually burn a portion of the fat via catalytic combustion to achieve flame suppression. U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,451 utilizes multiple layers of perforated metal which disperses the fat on its surface to improve vaporization and aid in clean combustion. In addition, the limited open area of the structure minimized flame penetration. In contrast, the present system burns the majority of grease which impinges on the structure and vaporizes a large portion of the fat which is not burned on the surface.
The present invention provides a way to use catalysts to assist in the cooking process, prevent flames from burning the food being cooked and diminish the deposition of corrosive fat residues on burner assemblies. Proper catalyst design in the present invention can use the energy from fat combustion to provide cooking with lower fuel consumption but without flames and still generate smoke for flavoring the food. The elimination of the flame provides a safer cooking experience and prevents the formation of burnt char (which has been suspected in cancer causation) on the food.